Panto season has begun (oh yes, it has!) and St Helens Theatre Royal is bringing you a short-run production of Sleeping Beauty.
The show itself was very playful and fun, catering to the younger audience, but only runs until this Sunday (November 3).
It contains lots of sparklers, flashing lights, smoke and loud sound effects.
The show opens with Fairy Sparkle – played by the fantastic Katy McKenna – introducing the fairy tale and singing a song.
The songs used within the production were up to date such as Symphony by Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson.
The jokes were topical, such as when they mentioned a tower, called it Blackpool tower and played the Strictly theme song.
In true panto style there were lots of physical acting and use of props in a very dramatic way.
They show related to today’s generation by making a mention of TikTok by doing the ‘hot to go’ dance, which put a fun twist on the usual “Is the bad guy behind me?” routine.
There were some technical issues from time to time, such as mics stopping working on stage and the timing of the backdrops appearing, but this didn’t detract from the enjoyment.
The favourite character of the production had to be a tie between Lewis Devine as Chester the Jester with his fun and singalongs to get the audience going was a big hit.
But there is also Queenie played by Mark Two who was fantastic from the physical acting and bits to the different crazy costumes every time they came on stage.
Overall, this production of Sleeping Beauty was great. Despite the few technical issues, the play itself was fantastic and is a must-see with the family.
STAR RATING: 3 stars out of 5
Featured image (c) Niamh McKay
